Another voice lost, Korean 'comfort woman' dies

(CNN) -- Another voice that could have told about
the horrors of being a "comfort woman" -- a sex slave used by Japanese
soldiers during World War II -- has fallen silent, according to South
Korean authorities.

Hwang Keum-ja, 89, died of lung and respiratory disease at a hospital in Seoul Sunday.

Cho Yoon-sun, South
Korea's Minister of Gender and Equality and Family, said she had been
attempting to meet each of her country's surviving comfort women
individually, but had not yet visited Hwang.

"My heart is aching as
she died before I was able to meet her," she said in a statement,
praising Hwang for her efforts to support others despite the hardships
she faced, and vowing that her government would deliver greater support
to other comfort women....